To commemorate the birth anniversary of Mr. Kamaraj, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, members of BIM Spirited, the social responsibility club of BIM Trichy distributed notebooks to the students of nearby Primary School. On the occasion the school teachers spoke about the works of Kamaraj and his service to the nation. Kamaraj was instrumental in setting up the BHEL plant within which BIM is located and also the nearby OFT. The mid day meal scheme introduced by kamaraj is now widely followed all over the country and helps in increasing the enrollment rate in schools. His birthday is celebrated as education development day in Tamil Nadu.

BIM Trichy takes immense pleasure in welcoming students of 31st batch to the campus. Classes for BIM 31 started on 25th June with a week of orientation program to introduce them to the rigour of MBA program. Orientation also involved various fun activities like ice- breaking, one fine day – a trip to Tanjore Big Temple and sessions on dining etiquette. They also had a late evening team building session that went on up to…. well.. 3 AM ;)

Here are some of the students from BIM 31 sharing their experience so far…!

Saumya Singh

A few days ago my life transformed when I shifted from bustling Gujarat to a docile city named Trichy. I was one of the first people to reach this serene place and fell in love with the tranquillity it offered me. The place I am talking about is the next stepping stone towards my career i.e. BIM, Trichy.

On one hand I was excited about the new place , meeting new people and the new culture while on the other hand I was also worried about whether I could adapt myself to it or not. Cultural shock followed me in the initial days as it was very different from what I was used to but gradually as I interacted with many people my clouds of doubt started to disappear.

Few things were better than my pre conceived notions like the hostel and the mess food. Riding on bicycle, knowing about wagah border (the partition between gals and guys hostel) , the crazy birthday celebrations, washing clothes, the hot climate and learning Tamil were some of my takeaways from BIM.

I still feel clueless when people switch to Tamil in-between conversations but I am doing my best to teach them Hindi :-p :-p

Change is the only thing that is constant and I got to experience that when my sleeping hours was halved. Talking about the academic part I feel privileged to have professors of this calibre and the help I am getting from the seniors.

This is the journey of last 20 days at the campus and looking forward to the challenges and surprises in the journey ahead.

Bhavani Sridharan

My first day at BIM – June 25th, started off with myriad emotions and apprehensions but I went to sleep that night with the utmost reassurance I have ever felt in my life. The inauguration function where the faculty introduced themselves and gave a glimpse of what to expect out of the two years at BIM and the unforgettable experience of watching the movie ‘Invictus’ that night with my team (while taking notes!)were the reasons why I felt I had taken the right decision.

Since then, every passing day at BIM has been vibrant and colorful with the right mix of learning and fun. Events like the trip to Tanjore, BHEL factory visit, the night-long team building sessions have imbibed in us, a sense of camaraderie and togetherness.
As the hustle and bustle of academics catches on, I feel grateful for the ever-friendly seniors and dedicated faculty members who have made BIM my second home, that I feel buoyed with confidence that I can take on the challenges that lie ahead on the road to my dreams!

Giridhar Srinivas

What inspires me most about BIM is the fact that its strength lies in its simplicity. I am proud to be part of an institution that is grounded and has put integrity and value above all in this era of tough competition. A familial approach to bring all sections – faculty, students, alumni and non teaching staff – together has made me focus solely on shaping myself in the coming 2 years.

Archana S

I arrived at BIM, extremely apprehensive and sceptical. I was moving from Bangalore, a happening, beautiful city, to Trichy, a small, hot, town. I have been here exactly 20 days, and have realised that my misgivings were all irrelevant.

The weather may be uncomfortable, but the atmosphere is brilliant. It may be a small town, but I have never felt more alive. The faculty, support staff, students, activities, campus, peer group…they all come together beautifully to create a climate of support, acceptance, love, fun, and endless possibilities.

I look forward to exploring this for the next two years. I already know that leaving this place is going to be hard.

The afternoon began with Mr.Lakshmi opening with a statement that the students of BIM were a step above their counterparts at most of the other B-schools and that he had always found them to be outstanding. The session continued with Mr.Lakshmi surprising the students with a quick quiz on different logos used by brands. He was met by quick and accurate answers and thus rested his case by proving what an impact the brands had made in the students’ minds. With the theme of Crescita 2014 Swarupa meaning essence, brand essence was one of the multiple topics discussed, where Mr.Lakshmi defined brand essence as a brand’s promise in simple single minded terms, of how Dettol just brings “germ-killer” to mind, with powerful brand essence being rooted in a fundamental customer need or want.

One point that was kept being reiterated was that a brand was owned not by the brand manager but by the customers. Companies have now become brand custodians while it is the customers who dictate what a brand can do. Then came a series of printads of United Colors of Benneton and some other ads of brands that clearly identified and communicated what they stood for.

Superstar Rajnikanth became the perfect example of brand power with the illustration of how customers of brand Rajnikanth are okay with the unrealism of the movies while for some other celebrity, the same might not be accepted by the public. The audience was treated to a video of the Superstar himself addressing his fans and joking about the pairing of Aishwarya Rai with him in the movie Robot.

Trends in strategic branding were discussed with Mr.Lakshmi calling out trends he had identified over the length of his career. Customers can now be identified as swarms as opposed to herds with the difference being swarms have a mind of their own. Customers of today are empowered with technology and have the information they need at their fingertips. He identified word of mouth as the key to credibility and how many marketers were changing their strategy to tap on this trend.

The most important factor he said, was the Moment of Truth – the moment a customer experiences a brand. The point when a customer comes in direct touch with any aspect of a brand, the experience he has then is what is called the moment of truth where the impression about the brand is formed in his mind.

The session was studded with a number of videos on brands like IKEA, Lifebuoy’s Kumbh Mela Campaign, Honda’s “The cog” video among others that communicated the marketers’ different approaches to communicating the essence of their brand. Mr.Lakshmi had the crowd enthralled and excited with his experiences and it was a great experience on the whole.

The second day of Crescita’14 started-off with a brief lecture by Mr. Chandra Mohan- Chief Financial officer of TAFE – the world’s second largest tractor manufacturer. He spoke on the role of Finance in Product Life Cycle Management and the role of R&D, the drive of business and the importance of synergy between teams. He also reiterated the fact that finance is not about numbers alone, but a Finance person should understand the business and what adds value to the top-line and the bottom-line. If you want to grow allow your subordinates to grow and hold on to your passion forever.

The lecture was followed by signing of two Memorandum of understandings between BIM and Tentacle technologies and BIM and Hitachi Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

Tentacle technologies will enable the start-up of research activities and software development projects in BIM and in turn the institute will provide the class rooms and other infrastructure required.

In the case of Hitachi Solutions India Pvt. Ltd this strategic academic – industry collaboration initiative enables training of students of BIM in Enterprise Resource Planning Overview enabling through Microsoft Dynamics AX and CRM functional areas. This partnership between the Academia and Industry would not only facilitate knowledge sharing by the Industry but also help the companies in hiring the best talent from the Campus.

“We are very glad to start up this strategic initiative with BIM, as this will give us access to the highly Oriented Business Management Graduates from BIM to meet our growth requirements in the coming years” said Ananthanarayanan (Ananth) Subramanian, CEO, Hitachi Solutions India.

This was followed by a session by Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan – CEO & Executive director at Mudra communications on Branding. Mr.Narayanan explained how “Brand Essence is the simplest and the most single minded expression.” He ended his speech with an advice to budding managers: “Be curious; Follow your passion ; Remember you are a professional ; Be grounded “.

A panel discussion on Analytics attended by the leaders in the field followed.

Mr. Karthik Thenalur P, Business Solution Manager, iLink Systems.
The discussion revolved around how there has been a paradigm change from reactive use of analytics to proactive use of analytics. It was observed that a good data scientist needs to have good understanding of business, mathematics and underlying data.

A Marketing Debate competition among the students of BIM Trichy , IIM Trichy and NIT Trichy on the topic “ Consumers are the new Brand Managers “ was held in the evening.

The third event of CRESCITA 2013 was the speech on ‘Innovation’ by Mr. Siva Subramaniam, an eminent trainer in Innovation and a Qualified Buzan Inspector in Mind Mapping. He has also authored the book – “The book of 11 beliefs”, a best seller in innovation. The session started with the video of Pranav Mistry’s sixth sense technology – the various applications it can offer and how did the original idea materialize. Following the video, Mr. Shiva reasoned that the video was played to stress the fact that each and every one is an innovator and is as good as Pranav Mistry is.

He then enlightened the audience with the 5 ingredients needed for any innovation:The first ingredient was: “Belief in Oneself”. The classic definition of creativity is “to believe in oneself”. Mr. Shiva said that belief may get lost several times, but, it is creativity that allows us to fail and learn from those failures.

The second ingredient was: “Imagination”. He emphasized that we should not confine ourselves to textbooks and instead he insisted that we should use our imagination to go beyond where the textbooks lead.

The third ingredient was: “Seeking for Problems to Solve”. Mr. Shiva gave personal examples to make a point that one should proactively seek for problems to solve and the will to do so and this, according to him will open up many opportunities for one to unleash the hidden creativity in oneself.

The fourth ingredient was “Generation of Ideas”. He elaborated on innovative steps to generate ideas by taking real time examples and encouraged out-of-the-box solutions.

The fifth and the final ingredient was “Implementation”. He stated that the implementation of one’s ideas was the gateway to unleash one’s creativity.

Mr. Shiva concluded his speech by emphasizing that the essence of Creativity (The Swarupa of Creativity) lies in “Owning the Problem”.

Post inaugural speech, Crescita 2014 continued with a panel discussion on “Real Essence”, the main theme for the three-day event. The panel consisted of four members –

Dr. Radha Bhaskar – A brilliant vocal musician and musicologist with a doctorate degree in music and he is presently the Editor of the prestigious art magazine ‘Samudhra’.

Mrs. Vrindha Ramanan – The director of Bala Kala Vidhanam, an Academy for Cultural Arts. She is a trained dancer and mountaineer.

Mr. Ramanan – A renowned architect who has designed various architectural projects in India and abroad. He is also a trained mountaineer.

Mr. Abhishek Kumar, our beloved professor who teaches Leadership and Brand Management at Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy was the moderator of the discussion.

Professor Abhishek opened the discussion by speaking on how the field of management can derive knowledge from the fields of music, dance, and architecture, which are all manifestations of beauty and experience. He posed various questions to the audience on whether the beauty of products emerge from their form, or their essence, or from a merger of the two. He stated that these differences exist in every field and are interesting to look into.

Dr. Radha Bhaskar enthralled the audience next by opening with a beautiful Carnatic rendition. She gave a brief note on the long and rich history of music and how it predates language as a form of communication. She pointed out the essence of music – the melody and rhythm which combine in several ways to form a beautiful experience to the listener.

She demonstrated the same by singing some impromptu phrases by varying their pace and complexity. The form of music she portrayed was peculiar – an oral picture, whose subject cannot be described. In her speech she highlighted differences between art and music and in process she emphasized importance of the composer, who brings essence of music to the audience. The audience were mesmerized with her music and appreciated that the artistic relevance of music is more psychological than functional and it must be contemplated, with conscious effort, to get to its true essence.

Mrs. Vrindha Ramanan initiated her views on the topic with a poem describing the movements and rhythm inherent in nature; which, she indicated is also inherent within us. She spoke about the origin of dance and how the Indian art forms as the Natya Veda, gave back peace to the world when it was in disarray. Mrs. Vrindha Raman emphasized that the simple sublime goal of the complex art form of dance is “Bhakti” – devotion to the Lord. What followed was a demonstration by Mrs. Ramanan’s student, Smriti.

The concept of adavus (individual units of dance) combining to form theermanams was shown beautifully. We were able to observe the ‘Saathvika’, or calmness of mind, and bhakti, or devotion to God, is infused into a dancer as he or she performs. This is the essence that is steeped into a form of beauty. She stated that learning the form of dance makes one a finer, more spiritual person and hence necessitated that everyone in pursuit of growth must strive to learn the Indian art forms as it would help us achieve that purpose.

Mr. Ramanan began his discussion on a lighter note. He then moved on to state that architecture has both form and essence (function). He posed a question to the gathering as to “Whether form follows function, or function follows form?”. He gave a splendid example of the pyramids to emphasize the importance of form in history. He stated that following the industrial revolution, form and function became equally important. He pointed out that the present trend stresses on function shifting from the emphasis on function.

He re-iterated that the essence of architecture was ultimately to live in harmony with nature, which tends to be forgotten in today’s chaotic world. In his closing remarks, he was hopeful for a renaissance in the field of architecture which would help them return to their basic essence.

The panel discussion closed with a question answer session. Some interesting points of note, in relation to spontaneity, range, and gender, came up. Concerns on how range and variety are getting lost today in music, dance and architecture as t

The intricacies of the classical arts are being replaced by the modern, popular forms were discussed. Another interesting thing that popped up in the discussion was the difference between masculinity and femininity in art forms (not very prominent in music, while it is definitely felt in the field of dance, even though it is not important).

On the whole, in the course of the discussion, the theme of “Swarupa” was thoroughly explored with respect to the fields of management, music, dance, and architecture, and it was an enlightening experience for the audience.

Crescita 2014 had a dream start with the opening session by Mr. Dato’ Narayanan. The theme of his talk was nicely intertwined with the theme of Crescita “Swarupa”, the progress of the Indian economy and how the heritage of India has played a part in making India what it is. Explaining “Swarupa” Mr. Narayanan explained that growth is necessary and an important catalyst for the same is in embracement of change and innovation. His speech focused on the potential which India as a country possesses and highlighted critical economic factors which makes India an attractive destination for the near and possibly in long term future too. Another critical area which he focused on was the emergence of the “Knowledge Based Economy” and how India has significantly leveraged on the same. From the time when computer and internet was a luxury in India, to contemporary days when Indian multinationals such as Infosys have been harbinger of India’s prowess in technology, India has become a force to reckon with. He held faith in India and Indians that with proper organization both as a state and as a person, we have it in us to make it big. He highlighted how there has been a phenomenal growth in the adoption of technology and various allied offerings be it social media or e-business and so on.

Second half of his speech focused on glorious heritage of our country and how the Indian’s characteristic of being humble and confident have made them leaders. The long Asian tradition of recognizing neighbor’s needs, being compassionate and empathetic have resulted in Asian companies overtaking American ones, Samsung overtaking Apple being a case in this point. He emphasized on strong communication abilities which he mentioned was a strength of Indian managers helping them to scale global heights and lead many Fortune 500 companies. In his closing thoughts he put forward his faith in future managers to lead and venture into new paths. He emphasized that BIM has played a strong role in its contribution towards building and nurturing competent managers with integrity in them.